Inflatable escape slideway apparatus



Filed Feb. 10. 1967 March 18, 1959 AKlRA u w 3,433,323

INFLATABLE ESCAPE SLIDEWAY APPARATUS Sheet L of 4 Marh 18, 1969 AKlRA uw 3,433,323

INFLATABLE ESCAPE SLIDEWAY APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10. 1967 Sheet 5 of 4March 18, 1969 AKIRA UKAWA 3,433,323

INFLATABLE ESCAPE SLIDEWAY APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10. 1967 Sheet 3 Of 4March 18. 1969 AKIRA UKAWA INFLATABLE ESCAPE SLIDEWAY APPARATUS SheetFiled Feb. 10. 1967 nf vffoiiib o 0 0,0 0 0 Po. vllllllllllilllll'llllll FIG.

3,433,323 INFLATABLE ESCAPE SLIDEWAY APPARATUS Akira Ukawa, Sagamihara,Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, assignor to Mitsubishi Denki KabushikiKaisha, Tokyo, Japan Filed Feb. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 615,122 Claimspriority, application Japan, Feb. 15, 1966,

41/ 13,300 US. Cl. 182-48 Int. Cl. A621) 1/20; E04b 1/34; E04g 11/04 7Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to aninflatable escape slideway apparatus for use in escape upon theoccurrence of a shipwreck, skyscraper fire and the like, and moreparticularly to such an apparatus characterized by an inflatable spiralslideway.

The conventional type of escape pipes for use in escape upon theoccurrence of a fire in a skyscraper has been generally spannedobliquely and downwardly between the skyscraper and the ground such thatthe lower end thereof is firmly secured to the ground at a positionrelatively separated away from the skyscraper. This leads to a largespace occupied by the escape pipe.

Also there have been previously proposed inflatable escape slideways foruse in transferring persons from a wrecked ship to life boats or rafts,lowered on the surface of the sea. Such slideways have also been spannedobliquely and downwardly in a straight line from the board side of thewrecked ship toward the sea. They are required to be made rigidly enoughto withstand a high load imposed thereon due to persons slidingdownwardly along the slideway thereby to be effectively prevented frombeing greatly deformed. Further the slideways are rather large in sizeand therefore required a long time before they have been inflated to beready for use.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedinflatable escape slideway apparatus for use with either a skyscraper ora ship having a small space occupied by the same and permitting personsto escape safely from the skyscraper or the ship.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedinflatable escape slideway apparatus having a sliding surface tiltableat any desired angle so as to permit persons to slide down along thesliding surface in safe and rapid manner.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedinflatable escape slideway apparatus having a sliding surface rigidsufiiciently to permit many persons to slide down at a time along thesliding surface without any flexure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedinflatable escape slideway apparatus for use with a ship including aslide unit and a raft unit wherein evacuees or refugees can transferfrom the slide unit to the raft unit without hindrance even when theraft unit is vertically moving by sea waves.

3,433,323 Patented Mar. 18, 1969 Another object of the invention is toprovide a new and improved inflatable escape slideway apparatusespecially suitable for use with a ship greatly variable in level of itsdeck above the sea-level due to a difference between the full and emptyload drafts.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an inflatableescape slideway apparatus including a slide unit comprising an outercollapsible tubular member, an inner collapsible tubular membercoextensive and disposed coaxially with the outer tubular member to forman annular tubular space therebetween. Supporting means are provided forsupporting the outer and inner tubular members at the upper ends toextend them vertically. An inflatable spiral balloon is disposed infixed relationship with respect to the outer and inner tubular memberswithin the annular space and capable of being filled with a gap underpressure to provide a slideway spirally extending about said innertubular member. A boarding entrance is provided on the upper end portionof the outer tubular member, an exit is provided on the lower endportion of the outer tubular member. The entrance and the exit areadjacent the ends of said slideway. A flexible escape bridge isconnected to the entrance, and an inflatable toroidal balloon is securedto the lower end of the outer tubular member providing a landingconsecutive to said exit, and a length of rope is connected to thesupporting means to hang the slide unit at a predetermined level in apredetermined escape place.

The arrangement just described is especially suitable for use in escapefrom a fire in a building or a skyscraper.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided aninflatable escape slideway apparatus for use with a ship including, inaddition to the slide unit just described, an inflatable raft unitcomprising a pair of inflatable toroidal balloons disposed one above theother and a piece of water-proof sailcloth sandwiched in tensioned statebetween said toroidal balloons; and an inflatable articulated connectionfor operatively connecting the raft unit to the slide unit directlybelow the latter so as to absorb vertical movement of the raft unit dueto sea waves.

For use with a very large-sized ship such as a super tanker whose deckis at a high level above the surface of the sea, an inflatable escapeslideway apparatus may advantageously comprise an upper slide unitcomprising an outer collapsible tubular member, an inner collapsibletubular member coextensive and disposed coaxially with said outertubular member to form an annular tubular space therebetween. Supportingmeans for supporting the outer and inner tubular members at the upperends are provided to extend them vertically, an inflatable spiralballoon is dis-posed in fixed relationship with respect to said outerand inner tubular members within said annular space and capable of beingfilled with a gap under pressure to provide a slideway spirallyextending about said inner tubular member. A boarding entrance isprovided on the upper end portion of the outer tubular member. An exitis provided on the lower end portion of the outer tubular member, saidentrance and said exit being consecutive to the adjacent ends of saidslideway. A flexible escape bridge is connected to the entrance, and aninflatable toroidal balloon is secured to the lower end of the outertubular member providing a landing consecutive to said exit. A lowerslide unit substantially identical in construction to the upper slideunit except for both a transfer entrance is provided on the upper endportion and a flexible transfer bridge is connected to said transferentrance. A pair of lengths of rope are connected respectively tosupporting means of the upper and lower slide units to hang them alongthe broad side of the ship at such levels that the transfer entrance ofthe lower slide unit is approximately aligned with the exit of the upperslide unit. The transfer bridge is connected to the exit of the upperslide unit. An inflatable raft unit comprising a pair of inflatabletorodial ballons are superposed one above the other and a piece ofwater-proof sailcloth is sandwiched in a tensioned state between saidtoroidal balloons; and an inflatable articulated connection is providedfor operatively connecting said raft unit to said lower slide unitdirectly below the latter so as to absorb vertical movement of the raftunit due to the action of sea waves.

If the tanker is in its full load condition under which its deck is at arelatively low level above the surface of the sea, only the lower slideunit along with the associated equipment may be conveniently used withthe upper slide unit maintained in its collapsed state on the deck.

The invention will become more readily apparent from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an inflatable escape slidewayapparatus for use with a ship according to the invention illustrated inits operative position with a slide unit thereof illustrated by dottedlines.

FIG. 2 is a plan view, partly in cross section, of the apparatus asviewed in the direction of the arrows on the line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a supporting frame for the slide unit;

FIG. 4 is a fragmental longitudinal sectional view of the slide unit;

FIG. 5 is a fragmental longitudinal view of an articulated connection tothe slide unit of a raft unit according to the invention;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of a modification of the inventionusing two slide units in its operative position with the internalconstruction of the upper slide unit schematically illustrated by dottedlines;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG.6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the apparatus as viewed in the direction ofarrows on the line VIIIVIII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but illustrating the manner to useone of the slide units shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG.9; and

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the apparatus as viewed in the direction ofthe arrows on the line XIXI of FIG. 9.

While the invention will now be described with reference to ships it isto be understood that it is equally used with skycrapers.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive, there is illustrated aninflatable escape slideway apparatus constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the invention and in its inflated state or in itsoperative position. An arrangement illustrated comprises essentially avertically extending slide unit generally designated by the referencecharacter S, a raft unit generally designated by the reference characterR and an articulated connection generally desig nated by the referencenumeral C for operatively connecting the raft unit R to the lower end ofthe slide unit S directly below the latter.

It is to be noted that if the slideway apparatus of the invention isintended to be used only with a building or a skyscraper that the slideunit is required only to be hung down from the building or skyscraperthrough any suitable supporting means in such a manner that the lowerend of the slide unit is positioned close to the ground thereby topermit evacuees to at least jump down from the lower slide end upon theground with both the raft unit and the connection omitted.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the slide unit S comprises an outer collapsiblecylindrical envelope 10 of circular cross section extending vertically,an inner collapsible hollow cylindrical column 12 of circular crosssection coextensive and disposed coaxially with the outer envelope 10 toform an annular cylindrical space therebetween, and a balloon 14 shownas being in the form of a helicoid of circular cross section disposedWithin that space. The outer envelope 10 and the inner column 12 arepreferably composed of any suitable flexible material such as cloth andthe balloon 14 are composed of any suitable flexible material such asrubber-coated cloth impermeable to a gas such as air. The balloon 14 isfixed to the outer envelope 10 and the inner column 12 and can be filledwith any suitable pressurized gas such as air under pressure to beinflated into a helical or spiral shape. The inflated spiral balloon 14has an upper spiral slide surface providing a slideway along whichpersons may slide down. The slide surface, in this instance, has asliding layer 16 applied thereon (see FIG. 4) for the purpose ofimproving the sliding effect of the slide unit. The sliding layer 16 maybe preferably made of a vinyl resin-coated cloth.

In order to hang the slide unit A from one board side of the associatedship toward the surface of the sea, a supporting frame generallydesignated by the reference numeral 18 is attached at the upper ends ofthe outer and inner members 10 and 12. As best shown in FIG. 3, thesupporting frame 18 includes a pair of concentric circular rings 20 and22 secured to the inner and outer members 12 and 10 respectively and aplurality of radial arms 24 disposed at substantially equal angularintervals to connect the outer and inner rings together. The frame 18 iscomposed of any suitable rigid material such as a metal. As shown inFIG. 1, the outer ring 20 has a plurality of rope branches :rigidlysecured thereto at a plurality of equally spaced points and jointed intoa single rope 26 which, in turn, is connected at the other end to asupporting rod 28 of crane type projecting from a ship hull 30 andbeyond the associated side. In operation, the slide unit A is arrangedto be hung down by the supporting rod 28 through the rope 26.

The outer envelope 10 is provided on the upper and lower end portions ofthe peripheral wall, with a pair of openings 32 and 34 serving as aboarding entrance and an exit consecutive to the adjacent ends of thespiral slideway 14 respectively. In order to permit the evacuees toreach the entrance 32 a flexible escape bridge 36 composed of either anysuitable thick cloth or a plurality of lengths of ropes is arranged tobe spanned between the slide unit S and the ship hull 30. To this end,the bridge 36 has one end connected to the boarding entrance 32 and theother end adapted to be connected to an eye plate 38 disposed on thedeck of the ship hull 30 through a pair of lengths of strings 40.

The envelope and column 10 and 12 have attached at the lower ends aninflatable common balloon 42 shown as being in the form of a toroid ofcircular cross section. The inflated balloon 42 has an outer diametergreater than that of the outer envelope 10 by a radial length suflicientto provide a landing where the evacuees may temporarily stop. Theballoon 42 is composed of the same material as the spiral balloon 14 andadapted to be fitted with any suitable gas such as air under pressure.This is true in the case of balloons forming the raft unit R and theconnection C as will be described hereinafter.

The sliding layer or surface 16 has an extension 16' extending throughthe exit 34 of the envelope 10 and over the adjacent portion of thetoroidal balloon 44 into the raft unit R where it is freely pendantdown.

The raft unit R disposed directly below the slide unit S is of theconventional structure including a pair of inflatable toroidal balloons44 and 46 of circular cross section superposing one above the other anda piece of any suitable water-proof sailcloth 48 sandwiched in atensioned state therebetween. After the completion of the escapeoperation the raft unit R may be separated from the slide unit S for thepurpose of using it as a life boat or raft. However, the raft unit R inthe illustrated embodiment is normally utilized as a waiting space wherethe evacuees rendezvous before they transfer to separate life boats orrafts.

It is recalled that the slide unit S has the raft unit R operativelyconnected to and directly below the same by the articulated connectionC. As best shown in FIG. 2 the connection C comprises three articulatedconnection sections of identical structure generally also designated bythe same reference character C and disposed at substantially equalangular intervals or in a Y shape. These connection sections C serve tomaintain the raft unit R in its position assumed directly below theslide unit S as well as absorbing any difference in distance between theslide and raft units due to vertical movement of the raft units effectedby the sea waves thereby to prevent the slide unit S from verticallymoving.

More specifically, each of the connection sections C comprises aninflatable pi(1r)-shaped balloon 50 having a pair of parallel legsarticulated at the free ends to the lowermost toroidal balloon 44 on theslide unit S by a piece of any suitable flexible cloth 52 and a pair ofinflatable straight balloons 54, 54 articulated at both ends to thecross member of the ar-shaped balloon 50 and to the upper raft balloon44 by pieces of any suitable flexible cloth 52. In order to prevent theballoons 5t) and 54 from being deformed, a pair of lengths ofreinforcing ropes 56 are tensioned in X-shape between the two legs ofthe balloon 50 while at the same time another pair of lengths of ropes58 are similarly tensioned between the straight balloons 54 (see FIG.2).

Thus it will be appreciated that the three point connection provided bythe three articulated connection sections C maintains always the raftunit R disposed directly below the slide unit S and that verticalmovement of the raft unit R due to sea waves is mainly converted into achange in angle between the longitudinal axes of the balloon 50 leg andstraight balloon 54. Of course this change in angle is accompanied byvariations in angles at which the balloons 54 and 52 are articulated tothe adjacent ends of the connection section C.

It will be appreciated that if the pieces of flexible cloth 52 removablyconnect the straight balloons 54, 54 to the raft unit R that the raftunit R can be separated from each connection section C after all theevacuees have transferred to the raft unit R for the purpose ofutilizing singly the latter as a life raft.

In order to prevent the raft unit R from moving along the associatedboard side of the ship hull and also from being greatly separated fromthe latter, a length of rope 60 may be preferably provided having oneend connected to the raft unit R and the other end connected to anappropriate portion of the ship hull 30. If desired, another length ofrope such as the rope 60 may be advantageously spanned between the lowerportion of the slide unit S and a suitable portion of the ship hull 30to aid in positioning the raft unit R in place.

Any suitable source of gas under pressure may be utilized to inflate theballons 14, 42, 44, 46, 50 and 54. For example, the balloons 14 and 42may be filled by an inboard source of gas under pressure through anysuitable conduit means and the respective filling openings on theballoons while the balloons of the connection C and raft unit R may befilled by a source of gas under pressure carried on the raft unitthrough any suitable conduit means and the respective filling openingson the balloons. Those source, conduit means, filling openings and themanner in which the respective balloons are filled with gas underpressure are well known in the art and accordingly need not beillustrated nor described.

Upon the occurrence of any emergency such as a shipwreck, the slidewayapparatus as above described can be thrown down from the wrecked shiptoward the surface of the sea. At the same time, all the balloons arefilled with a gas under pressure in the manner as above outlined to beinflated into the respective operative shapes.

Then the escape bridge 36 is laid to bridge between the slide units Sand the ship hull 30 and the length of rope 60 is spanned between theraft unit R and the ship hull 30 after which the inflated slidewayapparatus is put in its position illustrated in FIG. 1. Under thesecircumstances, the supporting rod 28 can be adjusted in angle ofelevation to compensate for any variation in level of the associateddeck above the sea-level involving a lateral inclination of the shiphull. Also any vertical movement of the raft unit R due to the sea wavescan be effectively absorbed by the articulated connection C in themanner as previously described.

The evacuees pass successively from the ship hull 30 through the escapebridge 36 to the boarding entrance 32 r of the slide unit S and thenslide down along the spiral sliding surface 16 of the slideway 14 untilthey reach the exit 34. After having reached the exit 34, the evacueesstop at a time on the landing balloon 40 to correct their postures andthen they can jump down into the raft unit R.

It is to be noted that the slope of the spiral sliding surface 16 may bepreselected at will. For example, the slideway 14 and hence the slidingsurface 16 may progressively decrease in slope toward the lower end.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 to 11 inclusive wherein like referencecharacters and numerals designate the components corresponding to thoseshown in FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive, there is illustrated a modification ofthe invention especially suitable for use with a very large-sized shipsuch as a super tanker. It is well known that in such a super tanker itsdeck is not only at a high level above the surface of the sea but alsogreatly varies its level above the surface of the sea between its fullload condition and its empty load condition. For example, the deck of acertain super tanker has its level of approximately 9 meters above thesurface of the sea in its full load condition while the level of thedeck above the surface of the sea is as high as approximately 20 metersin its empty load condition.

FIGS. 6 to 8 inclusive illustrate the manner in which a plurality ofslideways according to invention are used in functionally tandemrelationship for the empty load condition of a super tanker.

In FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, an upper slide unit generally designated by thereference character S is substantially identical in construction andoperation to the slide unit S as previously described in conjunctionwith FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive and has operatively coupled at the lower endto a second or lower slide unit generally designated by the referencecharacter S". The second or lower slide unit S also is substantiallyidentical in construction and operation to the slide unit S and has araft unit B as previously described, operatively connected theretothrough the abovementioned articulated connection C in the same manneras previously described.

The upper and lower slide units S and S are hung down from theassociated ship hull 30 in the same manner as above described throughthe respective lengths of rope 26. In order to operatively connect theupper slide unit S to the lower slide unit S, the lower slide unit S" isprovided, in addition to a boarding entrance 52 with another entrance 62disposed at a position below the entrance 32 by a distance correspondingto a quarter the pitch of a spiral slideway 14 in the lower slide unitS. The entrance 62 serves to cause the evacuees to transfer from theupper to the lower slide unit. A transfer bridge 64 made preferably ofany suitable flexible material such as cloth can connect the transferentrance 62 of the lower slide unit S to the exit 34 of the upper slideunit S.

As shown in FIG. 8, the transfer exit 32 of the upper slide unit S isprovided on each of the upper and lower edges with a pair of opposed eyebolts 66 and 66. The transfer bridge 64 is permanently connected at oneend to the transfer entrance 62 of the lower slide unit S and has a pairof lengths of rope 68 attached on both longitudinal edges. Each lengthof rope 66 has mounted at the free end a hook 70. Engagement of thehooks 70 with the eye bolts 66 causes the transfer bridge 64 to connectthe exit 34 of the upper slide unit 8'' to the transfer entrance 62 ofthe lower slide units S". The transfer bridge 64 is provided at the freeend with a length of rope 68 sufliciently long and having the other endconnected to an appropriate portion of the upper slide unit S for thepurpose as will be apparent hereinafter.

In FIG. 7 it is to be noted that the lower slide unit S has a member 36'pendant from the upper portion. That member 36 corresponds to the escapebridge 36 as previously described in the first embodiment. With theupper slide unit 8' connected to the lower slide unit S", the member 36'is pendant from the upper portion of the unit as shown in FIG. 7 therebyto close the entrance 32 of the lower slide unit S with the result thatthe evacuees are prevented from accidentally falling down from entrance32 on the surface of the sea.

Upon the occurrence of a ship-wreck, the upper and lower slide units Sand S are hung down in their suitable positions from the associated shiphull 30 and then the various balloons such as already described inconjunction with FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive are filled with any suitable gasunder pressure in the same manner as previously described. Thereafter,the escape bridge 36 on the upper slide unit S is drawn up to the deckas by a hooked pole (not shown) and rigidly secured to an eye plate 38on the deck. Under these circumstances, the evacuees successively passthrough that bridge 36 to the entrance 32 of the upper slide unit S andthen slide down along the spiral sliding .14 until they successivelyreach the transfer exit 34. Then they stop one at a time on the landingballoon 42 and one of them hauls the transfer bridge 64 by theabovementioned rope 68 hand over hand and engages the hook 70 with theeye bolts 66 to connect the exit 34 to the transfer entrance 62 by thebridge 64. Therefore the evacuees successively pass through the bridge64 to the lower sliding surface 16 along which they fall down into theraft unit R.

While the invention has been described in terms of two slide units S andS, it is to be understood that with the deck very high above the surfaceof the sea, any desired number of intermediate slide units may bedisposed in functionally tandem relationship between the upper slideunits S and S". Such intermediate slide units each are of course of thesame construction as the slide unit S or S" excepting that the upperportions thereof are identical to the upper portion of the lower slideunit S" and the lower portions are identical to the lower portion of theupper slide unit S.

If as in its full load condition a large-sized ship such as a supertanker has its deck positioned at a relatively low height above thesurface of the sea enough to be approximately equal to the length of asingle one of the slide units then only the lower slide unit S" as abovedescribed in conjunction with FIGS. 6 to 8 inclusive may be convenientlyused along with the associated connection C and raft unit R in themanner as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 inclusive. In this :case, the slideunit S previously used as the upper slide unit is maintained in itscollapsing state on the deck while the slide unit S" previously used asthe lower slide unit, is hung down from the ship hull 30 through alength of rope 26 and inflated into its operative shape in the manner asalready described (see FIGS. 9 and 10). The raft unit R connected to theslide unit S" by the articulated connection C is, of course, floating onthe surface of the sea, and the escape bridge 36 connected to the slideunit S" bridges between the slide unit 8'' and the ship hull 30 byhaving its free end rigidly secured to the associated eye plate 38 onthe deck (see FIG. 11). Under these circumstances, the transfer bridge64 is pendant from the transfer entrance 62 by the action of thegravitational force regardless of the collapsing slide unit S disposedon the deck because the rope 72 connected between the transfer exit 34of the slide unit S and the transfer bridge '64 is made suflicientlylong. The pendant bridge 64 effectively closes the transfer entrance 62thereby to 'prevent the evacuees from accidently falling down from theentrance toward the surface of the sea.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the objects of theinvention have been accomplished by the provision of an inflatablespiral slideway which can vertically extend.

While the invention has been illustrated and described with reference toseveral preferred embodiments thereof it is to be understood thatvarious changes and modifications may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the outerenvelope 10 may have a rectangular or square cross section etc., ratherthan the circular cross section with the inner column 12 complemental inshape to the envelope. If desired, the raft unit may be connecteddirectly to the slide unit. Also for use with a skyscraper, the landingballoon 42 may be omitted.

What I claim is:

1. An inflatable escape slideway apparatus including a slide unitcomprising an outer collapsible tubular member, an inner collapsibletubular member coextensive and disposed coaxially with said outertubular member to form an annular tubular space therebtween, supportingmeans for supporting said outer and inner tubular members at the upperends to extend them vertically, an inflatable spiral balloon disposed infixed relationship with respect to said outer and inner tubular memberswithin said annular space and capable to be filled with a gas underpressure to provide a slideway spirally extending about said innertubular member, a boarding entrance provided on the upper end portion ofsaid outer tubular member, an exit provided on the lower end portion ofsaid outer tubular member, said entrance and said exit being consecutiveto the adjacent ends of said slideway, a flexible escape bridgeconnected to said entrance, and an inflatable toroidal balloon securedto the lower end of the outer tubular member providing a landingconsecutive to said exit; and means connected to said supporting meansto hang said slide unit at a predetermined level in a predeterminedescape place.

2. An inflatable escape slideway apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein for use with a ship, said slide unit has directly connected tothe lower end an inflatable raft unit of conventional construction.

3. An inflatable escape slideway apparatus for use with a ship includinga slide unit comprising an outer collapsible tubular member, an innercollapsible tubular member coextensive and disposed coaxially with saidouter tubular member to form an annular tubular space therebetween,supporting means for supporting said outer and inner tubular members atthe upper ends to extend them vertically, an inflatable spiral balloondisposed in fixed relationship with respect to said outer and innertubular members within said annular space and capable to be filled witha gas under pressure to provide a slide way spirally extending aboutsaid inner tubular member, a boarding entrance provided on the upper endportion of said outer tubular member, an exit provided on the lower endportion of said outer tubular member, said entrance and said exit beingconsecutive to the adjacent ends of said slideway, a flexible escapebridge connected to said entrance, an inflatable toroidal balloonsecured to the lower end of the outer tubular member providing a landingconsecutive to said exit; a length of rope connected to said supportmeans to suspend said slide unit at a predetermined level in apredetermined escape place, an inflatable raft unit comprising a pair ofinflatable toroidal balloons superposed one above the other and a pieceof water-proof sailcloth sandwiched in a tensioned state between saidtoroidal balloons; and an inflatable articulated connection foroperatively connecting said raft unit to said lower slide unit directlybelow the latter so as to absorb vertical movement of the raft unit dueto sea waves.

4. An inflatable escape slideway apparatus for use with a ship includingan upper slide unit comprising an outer collapsible tubular member, aninner collapsible tubular member coextensive and disposed coaxially withsaid outer tubular member to form an annular tubular space therebetween,supporting means for supporting said outer and inner tubular members atthe upper ends to extend them vertically, an inflatable spiral balloondisposed in fixed relationship with respect to said outer and innertubular members within said annular space and capable to be filled witha gas under pressure to provide a slideway spirally extending about saidinner tubular member, a boarding entrance provided on the upper endportion of said outer tubular member, an exit provided on the lower endportion of said outer tubular member, said entrance and said exit beingconsecutive to the adjacent ends of said slideway, a flexible escapebridge connected to said entrance, an inflatable toroidal balloonsecured to the lower end of said outer tubular member providing alanding consecutive to said exit; a lower slide unit substantiallyidentical in construction to said upper slide unit except for both atransfer entrance provided on the upper end portion and a flexibletransfer bridge connected to said transfer entrance; a pair of lengthsof rope connected respectively to supporting means of said upper andlower slide units to hang them along the board side of the ship at suchlevels that said transfer entrance of said lower slide unit isapproximately aligned with said exit of said upper slide unit, saidtransfer bridge being connected to said exit of said upper slide unit;an inflatable raft unit connected directly to said lower slide unitimmediately below the latter, said raft unit comprising a pair ofinflatable toroidal balloons superposed one above the other and a pieceof water-proof sailcloth sandwiched in a tensioned state between saidtoroidal balloons.

5. An inflatable escape slideway apparatus for use with a ship includingan upper slide unit comprising an outer collapsible tubular member, aninner collapsible tubular member coextensive and disposed coaxially withsaid outer tubular member to form an annular tubular space therebetween,supporting means for supporting said outer and inner tubular memebrs atthe upper ends to extend them vertically, an inflatable spiral balloondisposed in fixed relationship with respect to said outer and innertubular members within said annular space and capable to be filled witha gas under pressure to provide a slideway spirally extending above saidinner tubular member, a boarding entrance provided on the upper endportion said outer tubular member, an exit provided on the lower endportion of said outer tubular member, said entrance and said exit beingconsecutive to the adjacent ends of said slideway, a flexible escapebridge connected to said entrance, an inflatable toroidal balloonsecured to the lower end of said outer tubular member providing alanding consecutive to said exit; a lower slide unit substantiallyidentical in construction to said upper slide unit except for both atransfer entrance provided on the upper end portion and a flexibletransfer bridge connected to said transfer entrance, a pair of lengthsof rope connected respectively to supporting means of said upper andlower slide units to hang them along the board side of the ship at suchlevels that said transfer entrance of said lower slide unit isapproximately aligned with said exit of said upper slide unit, saidtransfer bridge being connected to said exit of said upper slide unit;an inflatable raft unit comprising a pair of inflatable toroidalballoons superposing one above the other and a piece of water-proofsailcloth sandwiched in tensioned state between said toroidal balloons;and an inflatable articulated connection for operatively connecting saidraft unit to said lower slide unit directly below the latter so as toabsorb vertical movement of the raft unit due to sea waves.

6. An inflatable escape slideway apparatus according to claim 1,comprising a plurality of slide units including the first-mentionedslide unit connected vertically in tandem relationship but somewhatoffset from each other in the horizontal direction, the uppermost slideunit com prising said first-mentioned slide unit the remaining slideunits being substantially identical to said first-mentioned slide unit,the remaining slide units each comprising both a transfer entranceprovided on the upper end portion and a flexible transfer bridgeconnected to said transfer entrance, and a plurality of lengths of ropeconnected to support means associated with the respective slide units tohang them at such levels that the exit of the upper slide unit issubstantially aligned with the transfer entrance of the next lower slideunit; and means connecting each transfer bridge to the exit of the nextupper slide unit.

7. An inflatable escape slideway apparatus as claimed in claim 3,wherein said inflatable articulated connection comprises an inflatablepi(1r)-shaped balloon having a pair of parallel legs articulated to saidlanding balloon of the slide unit and a pair of inflatable straightballoon articulated at both ends to said TT-shaped balloon and the raftunit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,270,437 l/ 1942 Herendeen 9-l42,955,299 10/1960 Ingraham 9-14 3,070,203 12/1962 Hailstone 182-483,102,623 9/1963 Schacht et a1. 182-48 2,936,056 5/1960 Heyniger 182-48REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 914; 52-2; 193-25

